Dish · ukrainian
Kutia
Kutia is boiled wheat berries mixed with poppy seeds, honey, walnuts, and raisins into a sweet, chewy grain dish eaten in small portions rather than as a full dessert.
Where it comes from
It's served at Christmas Eve in Ukrainian and neighboring Slavic households, its wheat standing for continuity and its honey standing in for a wish of a sweet year ahead, part of a meal of symbolic foods.
What cooks argue about
Cooks disagree on the poppy seeds: grinding or pounding them into a paste to release their oil and flavor, versus leaving them whole, which some find leaves the dish tasting flat.
Versions
Nobody has published a kutia here yet. When somebody cooks one from a video and publishes it, their version appears in this list, with a link back to the original.
What goes in it
Each one opens everything else made with it.
poppy seeds
walnuts